After a moment of suspended darkness, Severus' feet touched earth. His knees, then his two hands followed.

"Professor Snape!" called Weasley in alarm.

Severus didn't answer, unable to speak while he vomited into the grass. He closed his eyes tightly, the spasms shuddering through him, leaving him utterly limp as they passed.

He heard a quiet conversation between the two Weasley men; Mrs. Weasley's higher voice joined them.

Fortunately, he didn't hear either his charge or the infernal voices of the any of the Weasley boys. Taking a deep breath, he chanced a look around himself. It appeared they were alone in the Weasleys' yard. That was a mercy.

"Professor?" Mrs. Weasley was kneeling beside him, "Do you think you can get up now? I can conjure a stretcher…"

"No," Severus rasped, shaking his head, "Thank you," he added, grudgingly. "If you and Mr. Weasley could just..." he paused to breathe, "just help me up."

Immediately, two sets of hands grasped him by the elbows and drew him up, steadying him as he stood on shaking legs.

"I beg your pardon," Severus bit out, appalled by his own weakness. He'd never been this ill after Apparating, not even coming home from a Death Eater meeting where Crucio had been liberally thrown about.

"Quite all right," Mrs. Weasley said softly. She stood in front of him while the two men stood on either side. "Would you like a stomach-calming draught?"

Severus shook his head, trusting more of his weight to his own feet. "It's passed now," his voice grated in his dry throat.

Mrs. Weasley gave her husband a glance. "Do you think you could have some tea and see if it stays down?"

"Yes. Thank you." Severus took the cane that Mrs. Weasley bent down to pick up from the ground and offered to him. He pulled his arms from the grasp of the two Weasley men. "And then, if you could just show me where you'd like me to sleep, Mrs. Weasley."

"Yes, of course, Professor," Mrs. Weasley said. "And please, call me Molly." She said this as though she were a little hurt that he'd forgotten that she'd already told him this. "Bill? I told the boys to start without us. See if your sister needs any help."

The young man gave them all a doubtful look, almost as if he were afraid to leave his parents alone with the grim potions master, but all he said was, "Right, mum," before heading off to the door of the house.

Severus heard the young man raise his voice as he walked in, but didn't catch the words. Hopefully he was stopping the Weasley twins from having the kitchen down around their ears.

"Come long then, Professor," said Molly. "Arthur and I can help you, if you need…"

"No. I'm fine," growled Severus, having had enough of the overly solicitous woman. He managed to stagger into the house under his own power. He was not going to appear in front of that pack of children looking as though he were ready to drop dead.

The loud talk from the kitchen came to an abrupt halt as the three walked in. Percy, Ron, Fred, George and Harry were all seated at the table. Bill and Ginny were nowhere in evidence. The boys had taken Molly at her word and were already tucking into shepherd's pie.

One of the twins jumped up out of the chair that was closest to the door and next to Harry. He took his plate and passed it to his twin, who put it at the empty place on his other side. "Take this seat, sir," he said, so politely that Severus immediately suspected a trick.

Harry must have, as well. He gave Fred (this was the twin wearing a sweater with an "F" on the chest) a look of open-mouthed horror. Then his eyes flew to look at the adults.

Molly didn't seem to bat an eye. She took Severus by the shoulders and steered him to that chair. His only choice was to sit there or get involved in an undignified struggle with the woman. He was far too tired for that and decided that he would be entertained by whatever hell Molly cooked up for her son after he embarrassed the family.

"Get the professor some tea," she told Fred, who was still standing, briskly. "Two sugars and extra milk, am I right?" she asked Severus kindly.

He nodded numbly as he gingerly sat down. Absolutely nothing happened.

Harry stared at him, then turned to look at Ron on his other side, mouthing something that Severus couldn't see. Ron shook his head minutely.

Arthur took his own seat on the other side of the table, filling a plate with food and passing it over to Severus. Fred came back with tea from the pot that was sitting on the sideboard, giving it to Severus with a smile. "Here you are, sir," he said politely.

Severus heard Harry snort and cover it with a cough. He glanced up at Severus, his eyes holding an expression other than anger for the first time all day. Probably for the first time since Ginny had overdosed, come to think of it. Severus own mouth twitched upward at the corner.

Apparently that was enough for Harry's self control to go to pieces, and he erupted in a fit of giggles.

"What?" demanded Fred.

Harry just shook his head, seemingly unable to get a grip, while he kept laughing.

The surrealism of the whole scene struck Severus suddenly, and he laughed too.

The room froze for a second, the children—except for Harry—staring at their humorless professor. Severus was so tired that their reaction set off more laughter. After a moment, he thought he had himself under control, taking a deep breath, but he made the mistake of looking at Harry.

Harry, for his part, had almost got himself together and was trying to restore his composure by taking a sip of tea. At meeting Severus' eyes, he seemed to inhale over his mouthful and got the most peculiar look on his face, before involuntarily spitting the entire mouthful out, spraying the table, himself and Severus.

Harry gasped in a breath, staring at Severus, clearly expecting the back of the man's hand.

The boy's horrified expression drew another laugh from Severus; he couldn't help it. He couldn't have said what was so funny, but he started laughing again and didn't stop.

The rest of the people in the room erupted in laughter too.

"God, Harry!" said one of the boys, over the laughter. "Can't take you anywhere."

"No, you have to take him twice," called one of the others. "Once to apologize."

Somewhere in the chaos, Severus felt his damp clothes dry. Molly had taken out her wand and, with an indulgent expression, she was cleaning up the spilt tea. Her eyes met Severus' and her smile contained as much relief as the boys' laughter.

The meal continued noisily, although the laughter seemed to have faded now. The boys were talking merrily and loudly to each other and Arthur.

"I'm sorry, Molly," Severus finally had enough breath to say, "I…"

She patted his arm as she sat down in the seat George hastily gave up to her when she gave his shoulder a shove. "Don't worry about anything, Professor," she said, happily helping herself after summoning a plate.

"What did we miss?" Bill called. He and Ginny stood in the doorway of the kitchen. She looked wan and pale, but at least she was on her feet and dressed.

The boys tripped over themselves trying to explain what had happened to Bill, who gave Severus another one of those worried looks as he and Arthur helped get Ginny settled into a chair and served.

Ginny avoided looking at both himself and Harry, Severus noticed. Arthur filled her plate for her and she was able to pick up a fork, although her handling of it was clumsy. Her appetite still seemed to be off, for she chased her food around on the plate rather than put any of it in her mouth.

Most of the boys had already finished eating, by now. Molly looked around at them and said, "Why don't you lot all go out to the orchard with your brooms?"

This suggestion was greeted with great enthusiasm. The boys hurriedly started taking their plates over to the sink.

Harry glanced at Severus, suddenly apprehensive, "You don't mind if I…?"

"Go on, Harry," Severus said, sighing. The fatigue was catching up with him. "Just… Be careful."

The child nodded, biting his lip.

"Go on, dear." Molly was still sitting next to Severus. She poured him some more tea. "I'll look after the professor."

Harry smiled, looking relieved. He grabbed his broom from beside the kitchen door as all the boys thundered outside.

"Professor?" Bill asked quietly from his seat beside Ginny. He glanced almost apologetically at his sister. "We…ah…we were wondering if you felt up to discussing…"

"I don't think we should talk about that now," Arthur broke in, his tone more decisive than Severus had ever heard it. "Professor Snape is clearly exhausted. I think this should wait until he's had some time to rest."

Bill nodded, but his eyebrows were drawn together in a frown and he crossed his arms over his chest.

Ginny looked up at Severus, meeting his eyes briefly. She hurriedly looked away.

In point of fact, Severus was too exhausted to have any kind of conversation.

"Come along," Molly said gently. "Let's get you lying down."

She took him by the elbow and led him down the hallway. Severus was relieved that she seemed intent on putting him in a bedroom on their ground floor. Knowing that the Weasleys were not well off, and knowing how many people lived in their house, he'd worried that he would have to sleep on the couch in their front room.

When she opened the door, it was clear that she was putting him into her and Arthur's bedroom.

"Molly, there's no need for me to put you out of your bed," he felt compelled to mutter.

"Don't worry, Professor," she replied. "I'm still sleeping in Ginny's room with her. Arthur will be perfectly all right taking Charlie's bed in Bill's room. We've put Harry in with Ron, so it's all fine."

Severus just didn't have the strength to argue, although he did say, "It seems foolish for you to keep referring to me as 'professor'. Severus will do."

Molly beamed. "Of course, dear."

She seemed to feel he needed help quite as much as he had done when he was in the hospital wing. Although she didn't attempt to support him, she stayed right beside him until he was sitting on the edge of the bed. She'd already turned down the blankets.

He shrugged out of his outer robe and handed it to Molly; she took it and hung it on the back of the door. "Do you need anything else?" she asked. Someone had already put his bag on the end of the bed. Arthur or Molly must have conjured it here.

Severus contemplated fishing around in his bag for a nightshirt, but decided against it. The woman might take it into her head to help him change into it. "No, thank you." He bent and pulled off his boots and lay down in his shirtsleeves and trousers, tucking his wand under his pillow.

He was so tired that he fell asleep before Molly closed the door behind her.

It was an undetermined number of hours later that he was woken by voices yelling. "Mum! Harry fell off his broom!" was the only thing Severus understood from the cacophony.

The boy's words of the day before echoed chillingly through Severus' mind, and he thought his heart would stop.

Three steps took him into the hallway, and four long strides took him into the kitchen, elbowing his way past the gaggle of red-headed boys who stood at the door.

"Let me have a look then, Harry," Molly was saying. "How did you ever fall off your broom?" She was much too calm, by Severus' estimation.

Harry was sitting with his back to the door to the hallway. The injury couldn't be seen from where Severus was standing. "I didn't fall…" the child began.

"Then what did happen, Harry?" Severus demanded, harshly.

"Oh, Severus," Molly said, looking up from examining the boy's injuries. She had the audacity to smile at him. "Ron, get the professor a chair and a cup of tea." She looked back down at Harry. "Now hold still dear, I'm rather good at this." She paused, concentrating. Apparently she was good at healing magic because she was using a nonverbal healing spell

Severus kept his mouth shut, not liking to disturb her when she was in the middle of fixing whatever damage the boy had managed to inflict on himself. He took the offered cup of tea and the chair, but sat on the edge of it, tight with anxiety.

"There, all done. How does that feel?" she asked when she finished waving her wand in front of the child's face.

"Better, thank you." Harry replied politely.

"What happened, Harry?" Severus repeated his question. His voice was a little louder than it needed to be in the crowded kitchen.

Harry finally turned to look at Severus. The front of his shirt was just soaked in blood, "I…er…"

"He fell off his broom," one of the twins asserted.

"I did not," Harry returned hotly. "You missed that Bludger and it knocked me off." The child looked nervously at his guardian. "It was an accident," he said more quietly. "I swear."

"And all this blood?" asked Severus tightly.

"Bloody nose," the youngest Weasley boy put in. "He always bleeds like that when he gets one."

Molly's Scourgify made short work of the blood on the shirt. "You lot go get cleaned up for dinner," she said, sounding completely unperturbed. She made little shoo-ing motions with her hands. "Go on."

The entire cavalcade of boys trooped up the stairs; Severus found himself alone in the kitchen with Molly.

He sipped on his tea, feeling his shoulders relax slowly. He realized belatedly that he held his wand in his hand. He had snatched it up when he left the bedroom. Feeling slightly foolish, he tucked it into the pocket in his sleeve.

The witch didn't say anything for a few minutes, puttering about in the kitchen instead. She put some biscuits in front of him. "You should eat something, you're too thin."

"I'm fine," Severus sighed. He took a biscuit anyway.

Molly gave him a sort of measuring glance. "Harry's put on some weight." She sat down at the table with her own teacup. She looked almost as tired as Severus felt. "It's good to see."

"How is your daughter?" Severus asked in an effort to be polite.

"She's getting better. She limps and she's always tired, but the healers say that's normal." Molly shook her head. "She's still very quiet. We've had her seeing the mind healer Poppy recommended. I'm not sure if it's helping, but Arthur and I…we've been going with her sometimes. It's very helpful for us. She's been explaining some of what Ginny's been experiencing."

"Where is Miss Weasley now?" Severus asked.

"Sleeping." Molly indicated the large clock that stood on the end wall of the kitchen. There were many hands on it, each with a little picture of someone's face. Severus counted eleven hands in all.

The hand that had Ginny's face on it was pointed to "Bed."

After another minute of staring, Severus realized there were two raven-haired faces among the redheads.

Sure he must be mistaken, the professor stood to look more closely at the clock. Molly seemed to be holding her breath.

"Is that…? Did you put me on your family clock?" Severus asked, dumbfounded. There was his picture, sneering at him when it noticed he was looking.

Molly came to stand beside him, twisting the tea towel up in her hands. "Ah… no. The clock is spelled to add family members automatically. It's only added the children before now. It was like that when we got back. Bill says that it's because of that spell."

"And Harry?" Severus asked quietly.

"He appeared at the same time," confirmed Molly. "Bill and Arthur should be home soon. We, er, wondered if we could speak to you about this, actually." She was still twisting the tea towel around in her hands. Her voice was a bit higher than usual

"About what?" he asked, feeling bemused. His knees started to ache, so he walked back to the table.

"The spell. We've been conferring with a few experts Bill knows. On the quiet, of course." She followed him back to the table. "It's not something I knew much about and…" her mouth twisted like she'd eaten something sour, "I really have no interest in consulting with Dumbledore about this."

Severus nodded. The headmaster wouldn't be very popular around the Weasley household at the moment.

"But… why aren't Minerva and Poppy there?" asked Severus after a moment of thought.

"Bill says it's probably because Poppy's taken the Healer's Oath and Minerva's Head of Gryffindor."

That made sense, Heads of House were in loco parentis and had obligations to their students beyond merely a student-teacher relationship. Plus, the Weasleys had been sorted into Gryffindor since Weasleys attended Hogwarts.

"Bill said that the spell goes back to the Founders."

"Did he?" Severus said distantly.

"Helga Hufflepuff invented it." Molly poured herself some more tea. "Or so goes the legend. Bill wanted to reassure us, I think. It's acquired a rather… dark… reputation since then."

"Yes." Severus wondered where this conversation was going, and how long it would be before he could in courtesy go back to bed.

"If you don't mind my asking… where did you learn it? I mean…" Molly was twisting the tea towel around her hands again. "Did you take any Healing Oaths?"

The man shook his head. "No. I went as far as Medi-wizard with healing, but no further." Severus found that small talk was always tiresome at the best of times; now it was outright exhausting. "You'll forgive me, Molly," he said, setting down his tea cup, "I'm afraid I'm not up to conversation."

"Oh, of course." She jumped up and followed him back the room he was sleeping in. "I'll fetch you in some dinner later, shall I?" she asked. "And we really do need to talk about things."

She sounded quite concerned, Severus thought, but his brain was moving far too slowly to understand why.

It was much later when he awoke again, the room dark and the house quiet. He levered himself up and lit his wand. Now, he was hungry.

There was light and hushed voices in the kitchen,

"Yes, but don't you think he knows that?" Bill Weasley was saying.

His father replied, "According to Remus, he's been in quite a state. Of course, now that I've spoken to him…"

The three of them fell as silent as first years caught out of bounds when the professor came to stand in the doorway.

"Severus. How do you feel?" Molly was sitting at the table with Bill and Arthur.

Severus shrugged dismissively; he wasn't interested in discussing himself. "Where's Harry?" he asked, much more concerned with his ward.

"Harry went to bed about an hour ago," answered Arthur. He exchanged a tense look with his wife and son.

"Is something wrong?" demanded Severus. "Harry…"

"No, no," Molly said. She stood up and guided him to a chair, yet again. Severus was going to have to get her to stop doing that. "Harry's fine. He seems a little depressed, poor thing. Remus sent us a copy of that dreadful article."

Well, that saved Severus from breaking the news.

Molly went to the stove. "I have stew, if you're hungry." She picked up an empty bowl and looked at him inquiringly.

"Yes, please." The Weasley men were staring fixedly at Severus. "You have something to say to me?" he asked as they continued to look at him, even after Molly had put the full plate of stew in front of him.

Arthur cleared his throat and looked away, but Bill squared his shoulders. "We were wondering, Professor," he said, very seriously, "whether you were planning on exercising your prerogative in regards to Ginny?"

"I beg your pardon?" Severus asked, completely nonplussed. Obviously he was missing something. "My… prerogative?"

Rather than give a straight answer, Bill picked up a very old book that lay on the table, opened it and gave it a tap of his wand. He then passed it over to Severus.

The magically highlighted paragraph read:

'Ware the Dark Uses of the spell. It is said that it lends itself to Necromancy as pieces of soul are traded to Death and dwell beyond the Veil.

In balance, the casters should be either Healer, blood kin or sworn kin, for the binding of one soul to another is irrevocable. A caster who is neither kin nor Healer has rights of refusal in the apprenticeship, adoption or marriage contract.

Do not cast without due consideration, as the consequences are thus:

Severus stopped reading at the laundry list of side effects.

Molly and Arthur reached out to take each other's hands, looking at him apprehensively. Bill leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowed in suspicion and challenge.

"I'm afraid I don't understand your point." Severus said, feeling rather confused. He handed the grimiore back to Bill.

"We just need to know… er… where you stand on this, Professor," Arthur said quietly, hesitating over his words. "We haven't said a lot to Ginny, but I know she understands the debt. The mind healer suggested we speak to you before we talk with Ginny. And naturally, we'd prefer that you held off anything… er… terribly physical, until she finished her education." Arthur's face turned a bit white, while Molly's cheeks colored. "We were wondering if it might be better to have her transferred to Beauxbatons, until she came of age, if you… ah… felt awkward about it."

Severus still wasn't following at all. "If your daughter wants to transfer for the remainder of her education, I fail to see what that has to do with me," he said slowly. This conversation was entirely nonsensical as far as Severus could see. He had no idea what to say.

Molly apparently read the confusion on his face, "Professor… Severus," she said softly, "the soul bond gives you the right to ask for Ginny's hand. In marriage."

"Madam, there are laws against that," Severus replied, appalled.

Bill made an impatient noise in his throat. "Professor, according to the laws, Ginny's eligible to marry at fifteen. Obviously, we'd prefer she wait until she was finished at school, but the soul bond gives you the right to…"

"She is my student, Mr. Weasley," interrupted Severus hotly. "And a child in a particularly delicate state of mind. I hardly think being betrothed to the resident dungeon bat is going to be much good for her mental health." He realized his voice must have gotten quite loud when Arthur cast a quick silencio and an imperturbable charm for good measure. "Please put your minds at rest—I have no intention of exercising this particular prerogative." He said the last word as if it were an imprecation.

Molly smiled brightly, giving her husband and son a look that said, I told you so.

Bill wasn't finished. "An apprenticeship, then?" he asked doubtfully. "She's a good potions student, but…"

"God forbid," growled the potions master. "And I have my hands full enough with one ward, thank you very much."

Bill shifted nervously."What do you want, then?"

"At this instant? Peace, quiet and perhaps another cup of tea." His voice came out petulantly.

He realized uncomfortably that many wizards in his situation would jump at this chance. Never mind his personal inclinations, to marry into a respectable Pure-blood family would guarantee his acceptance into certain Wizarding circles. Although the Weasleys were considered eccentric, their name was older than the Prince name. It would make Snape a respectable house in itself.

Molly jumped up and went to put on the kettle.

"But surely, sir…"

Enough was enough. "Mr. Weasley, I am beginning to find this line of discussion rather insulting. I have no inclination to marry a woman and I did not save your sister's life because I had hoped for some personal gain, but rather because it was my duty."

"But it wasn't… not really," Arthur said quietly.

"Yes, it was." Severus looked down at his bowl, pushing it away as he realized he'd lost his appetite. "Arthur, tomorrow go to the records office and look up the death certificate and inquest report of one Eileen Prince-Snape."

Bill latched onto a different part of the statement. "Erm, Professor? Should we be calling Charlie back from Romania?" He looked at his parents for confirmation. "I mean Charlie understands what we owe you."

The penny didn't drop for a moment, then: "Your brother wouldn't be any happier with me than your sister," Severus said gruffly, taking the tea Molly handed him. "If you must arrange a betrothal, I'm sure my ward and your sister are a much more appropriate pairing."

Bill smiled for the first time since Severus had arrived at the Burrow. "That'd make Ginny happy," he quipped.